Spirit of Ishmael
A mocking Spirit
Text:
Gen 21:8-20
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (KJV)
Intro: I want to look tonight at another curse linked to this spirit of Ishmael
Look at mocking spirit
Vs 9 says, “Sara saw Ishmael mocking”
It was this that caused them to be cast out
- This was the spirit that drove them away from Abraham
- Away from the spirit of God
- This was the spirit that cause them to be “cast out”
When you first look at this you think that Sara is being a bit harsh
- Kids will be kids right
- But you have to realise Isaac is just a baby between 2-3 years old
- Ishmael is between 14-16
- It is not natural for a young man in is late teens to be mocking a baby
- There is a maliciousness to this
The Hebrew word for mocking here is (metsachcheq)
- Implies “always mocking”
- This is not just something that happened just this one time
- But this had been going on for a couple of years
Mocking is a display of bitterness
- Anger
- Mean spirited
- Jealousy
Why? Why was this mocking spirit at work in his life?
- Why was he mocking this little baby?
Attention that he had once received is now being placed on Isaac
For years he had it all
- He had the attention
- The eyes of the father were on him
- But now this baby is getting all the attention
- Truth is babies always need more attention
Over the years I have seen this spirit at work in the church with out really knowing what it was
People bound by this spirit always kill new converts
- They attack them
- They do not show them the same grace that they received when they were a new convert
- They burden them and place weights on them they are not able to bear at that age
- They are mean spirited towards them
The root of the problem is jealousy
- The attention they once received is now being placed on someone else
- Pastor spends more time with them than he does you now
- This spirit is even more at work in older churches that have not seen growth for a time
ILL> we see this at work in our own children
- When a new born comes into the home
- The older siblings become jealous
- Many times they will begin to act up to gain attention
- And it is the fathers role to correct that child to let them know they are still loved, and to check and weed this spirit out
- If left unchecked this spirit leads to rebellion
In Ishmael’s life we see this spirit reach its peak at the time of Isaacs weaning
Isaac was a miracle child
- This was the promised child
- Isaac was a type of Jesus
Ishmael was a worldly child
- Born out of Egypt his mother
- He is a type of the world
- Born out of unbelief
Listen to me “what is born in the world will always mock, belittle, and attack that which is born of God”
This spirit of Ishmael is so imbedded that it must be cast out
- It is a spirit that Jesus must cast out
- Counselling will not help it
- Teaching will not help
- Therapy will not help
It is amazing how parents that are bound by this spirit always belittle their children
- Their child is never good enough
- Never do anything right
- They always beat them down
It is not the Childs fault
- It is this spirit at work in the parent
- It is the insecurity and lack of confidence of the parent
If you were belittled
- Beat down
- Verbally abused as a child
- Constantly told you were worthless
- Constantly told you were no good
I want you to know tonight that that was a lie from hell
- That was a mocking spirit at work in your parents or guardian
- It was the spirit of Ishmael at work
- Tonight you can be free
- The curse can be broken
I. Back to Egypt
Gen 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. (KJV)
I want to look at for a moment at were they were going
They bible doesn’t say but by judging from the direction they were going they were headed back to Egypt
- This is were she is from
- Hagar is an Egyptian
This spirit will always lead you back to the world
- It will always lead you away from God
- Out of his will
The goal of a mocking spirit is to mislead
- To lead you astray
- Cause you to be cast out
- It does this by verbal pressure
1 Cor 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (KJV)
ILL> children will always mock someone when they are trying to get them to do something they know is wrong
- Something they know they should not be doing
- scary cat scary cat
- They will tease them and push them until they do it
This is what this spirit wants to do in your life
- Push you
- Tease you
- Torment your mind
With thoughts of jealousy, suspicion, and distrust until it leads you astray
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
(KJV)
It says we were deceived, led astray
In fact we are so easily lead astray the bible refers to as sheep
- As lost sheep
- Led astray by immoralality and seduction
- Led astray by false teaching and religion
God can deliver us
- He can save us and set us free
- But we will have to call out to him
II. She became lost
Gen 21:14-16 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. (KJV)
She is in the desert
She is lost
This spirit of Ishmael wants you to become lost
- It is a spirit that brings disorientation
- Not knowing which way to turn
- Not knowing were to go
- Who to turn to
It wants to bring you to a place were you do not know what to do next
I have counselled people in the past bound by this spirit
You can talk to them
- They just don’t seam to get it
- You can’t pin them down
- You can’t get a straight answer from them
They look at you with a look of bewilderment and confusion and say, “I just don’t know pastor” when the answer is right in front of them.
The bible says, “The devil is the author of confusion”
This spirit wants to bring a cloud and a fog upon your mind were you are unable to see truth even when it is placed right in front of you
Ishmael faints
Hagar places him under a bush
- She then leaves him there to die and moves away from him
The situation is now beyond hope
- It is beyond all natural repair
- There was nothing more that they could do
This spirit wants to lead you to a place of hopelessness
- It wants to bring you to a place were you give up
- This spirit has been working in Ishmaels life for sixteen years to bring him to this point
In some of you here tonight this spirit has been at work for years
- Slowly chipping away
- Slowly leading you to this point
- Edging you closer and closer to a place of despair
Many that are plagued by this spirit of Ishmael battle thoughts of suicide
This mocking spirit has lead them to a place of hopelessness
You may feel like you are at this place in your life
- Like there is no hope
- No answers
- No way out
It is a curse at work in you
- It is the spirit of Ishmael at work
- There is a hope
- There is an answer
And that answer is Jesus and deliverance by his blood
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
III. A place of deliverance
Gen 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. (KJV)
Note: It was Ishmael God heard
- She had cried out also
- But God makes it very clear it was the lad that he had heard
It was his mocking spirit that brought them to this place
- His mocking that had caused them to be cast out
- His bitterness
- His anger
He was the reason they were hear
I believe it was his cry of repentance God was waiting for
He was waiting on Ishmael to realize
- This was his fault
- He had a personal responsibility
It does not matter tonight
- What has been done to you
- How your daddy abused you
- Or how your mother treated you
Each of us has a personal responsibility for our actions
You are responsible
- Responsible for your actions
- Responsible for your heart
- Responsible for your relationship with God
We live in a day and age when every body wants to blame someone else for their problems
- For the way they are
- And how they act
It is always someone else’s fault never our own
- It is my moms fault for how she raised me
- Its my dads fault for abandoning me
- Its societies fault
- Everyone’s fault but yours
Listen to me God is waiting for you
He is waiting for you just like he waited for Ishmael
Waiting for you to say
- Its me Lord
- I am to blame for the way my life is
- For the way I treat my children
- For the way I treat my husband
- For the way I treat my wife
- For the way I have treated you
Forgive me
I believe if Ishmael had not cried out to God they would have died right there
Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
(KJV)
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (KJV)
This is what he is waiting for
There are some of you here tonight and as a result of this spirit of Ishmael at work in your life you have lost relationships
You have lost your relationship with
- Your mother / father
- Your son / daughter
Relationships have been broken
I want you to look and see what happens the moment Ishmael cries out to God
Gen 21:18-19 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. (KJV)
Relationship is restored
His mother who had left him to die returns to him
Relationships can be restored
- But you must cry out to God
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:37-39 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have a father that will never leave us nor forsake us
Every head bowed
